The Twin Ports has become a transshipment hub for many industries that drive the regional economy, including wind energy.

"When oil was really, really cheap it kind of was just like oh, we can handle that. But know I think that folks are recognizing that the development or rather the redevelopment of local economies is going to pull America back up in to the place where we can do some real work," Majora Carter, sustainability expert, said.

The Brazilian wind market is expanding and the turbine blades are a part of a project that will include 141 turbine generators.

"It's imports and exports now... for the first few years that we've handled wind turbine equipment and the components, it was inbound cargo from Europe," Adele Yorde, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said.

Many foreign manufacturers are building plants in the United States.

"These blades are actually U.S. made and now they have now become an export commodity for the port of Duluth Superior," Yorde said.

The shipment from Duluth is just one of nearly 20 deliveries that will go to Brazil.

Duluth has moved more than one million tons of wind turbine components since 2005 and the city was named the top port in North America last year by the Railway Industrial Clearance Association.